Societies and cultures depend on shared knowledge – for instance about different social roles and positions, the norms and behaviour associated with these roles, rights and duties, shared values or a common cultural heritage to name but a few examples. In order to be shared, knowledge on the one hand needs to circulate within a specific group. And on the other hand, of course, knowledge (or bits and pieces thereof) is also constantly exchanged with other such groups – purposefully or not. Hence, knowledge – willingly or not – is constantly on the move.

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Prof. Dr. Christiane Schildknecht (Philosophy, University of Lucerne) An explication of the concept of knowledge, including its limits and an analysis of different forms of knowledge.

PD Dr. Roland Wenzlhuemer (History, University of Heidelberg) The changing relation between information and knowledge: new communication technologies and contemporary societies’ perception of them – the example of telegraphy.

Prof. Dr. Michael Hagner (Science Studies, ETH Zurich) Generation and transfer of knowledge in the digital age: the fate of the printed book and changing notions of intellectual property, reading, writing and interpretation.

PD Dr. Stefan Willer (Literary Studies, ZfL Berlin) Figurations of future knowledge: a rhetorical and epistemological investigation of knowledge-to- come in connection to current prognostic notions like ‘sustainability’, ‘security’, ‘scenario’, ‘contingency’.